Indigenous Knowledge and
Development Monitor, July 2001 Indigenous Knowledge and
Development Monitor, July 2001
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Conferences
Etnobotanica Napoli 2001
Naples (Italy)
22-30 September 2001
The Third International Congress of Ethnobotany - Etnobotanica Napoli 2001 -
will be held in Naples, Italy, from 22 to 30 September 2001. The theme of the
Congress is 'Ethnobotany in the third millennium: expectations and unresolved
issues'. The official languages of the Congress are English and Spanish and it
is organized into oral and poster sessions.
Provisional session titles
For more information, see Andrea Pieroni's website:
netcologne.de/~nc-pieronan2 or:
Dott. Paolo Casoria
Tel. +39 08 1444031
Fax +39 08 1295351
E-mail: pcasoria@unina.it
Global forces and their impact on the Pacific's biodiversity: towards
local and regional response strategies
Honolulu (Hawaii)
25-28 September 2001
The Global Diversity Forum (GBF) provides an independent, open and strategic mechanism to foster analysis, dialogue and debate among all interested parties in order to address significant ecological, economic, institutional and social issues related to the options for action to conserve biodiversity and use biological resources sustainably and equitably.
The parallel workshops of the first regional session of the GBF for the Pacific address the theme of traditional knowledge and traditional resource management and biodiversity: issues, practices, and policies. Article 8 (j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) highlights the importance of protecting traditional and indigenous knowledge related to biological and genetic resources. A working group has been established by the parties to the Convention. The South Pacific region is currently developing model legislative measures for the protection of traditional knowledge and cultural expression, based upon respect for customary law and practice. However, traditional authority and customary law may be undermined where permits for access to and exploitation of resources are granted at national or provincial level, leading to increasing conflict between national legislation and customary rights. The workshop will discuss the range of issues linking traditional knowledge with the use and conservation of biological and genetic resources.
Contact: Brendan Tobin, International Marinelife Alliance, Stangenwald
Building, suite 610, 119 Merchant Street, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Tel. +1-808-5230143
Fax +1-808-5230140
E-mail: brendantobin@yahoo.co.uk
International Conference on Medicinal Plants, Indigenous Knowledge and
Benefit Sharing: a parallel session of the Conference of Parties to the
Convention on Biodiversity
The Hague (The Netherlands)
10-13 April 2002
The committee organizing the conference held its first meeting in Leiden on 7 June 2001. A board was named which includes Prof Dr L. Jan Slikkerveer of Leiden University (chairman and supervisor), Dr Henk van Willigenburg of the University of Amsterdam (vice-chairman), Jessica Erdtsieck, MSc, of the University of Amsterdam (conference secretary-general and coordinator), Dr Ernest Rukangira of Conserve Africa International (advisory member), Tedje van Asseldonk, MSc, of the Netherlands Association for Phytotherapy (member) and Ms Mady K.L. Slikkerveer MA of the LEAD Programme (member). In addition to the participating institutions (Leiden University, University of Amsterdam, Conserve Africa International, and the Netherlands Association for Phytotherapy), several representatives of international organizations will form an advisory committee. The dates of the conference have been confirmed for 16-19 April 2002, but further information about the venue, registration and conference website will follow in the next issue of the IK&D Monitor, as will a call for papers.
For further information please contact:
Ms Jessica Erdtsieck MSc
Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130,
1018 VZ Amsterdam
Phone: +31-20-5255178
Fax: +31-20-5254051
E-mail: j.erdtsieck@frw.uva.nl
Building Bridges with Traditional Knowledge
Honolulu (Hawaii)
28 May-1 June 2001
The University of Hawaii, in collaboration with the Society for Economic Botany and the International Society for Ethnopharmacology, held an International Summit Meeting on Issues Involving Indigenous Peoples, Conservation, Sustainable Development and Ethnoscience entitled 'Building Bridges with Traditional Knowledge II' from 28 May - 1 June 2001 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
This large conference, to which over 600 registered participants-often representing academic, public and private organizations and institutions-had come (to the Conference Centre at the Hilton Hawaiian Village), in order to contribute to a wide variety of topics, took place over six days of activities. These included plenary sessions, concurrent sessions, evening sessions with distinguished speakers, education, and optional excursions extended with informal meetings and discussion groups. While a whole range of relevant topics related to IKS was dealt with, particular sessions made strong contributions to the advancement of such fields as the theory and practice of indigenous and traditional knowledge in relation to science and technology. Apart from the strong representation of the hosting Hawai'ian indigenous and cultural groups in presentations, discussions and cultural performances, specific 'hot' issues were tackled, including 'Intellectual Property Rights', 'Applied Biological Conservation', 'Economic and Ethnobotany', 'Ethics and Guidelines', 'Research and Teacher Education', and 'Traditional Medicine and Modern Societies'.
Afternoon plenary sessions facilitated regional foci on Africa, North and South America, Europe and the Mediterranean region, Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Despite the recent loss of some of the great pioneers in the study, recognition and implementation of IK whom the conference had to remember - including D. Michael Warren, Darrell A. Posey and Richard E. Schultes - participants generally had the feeling that despite the fact that so much still has to be done, understanding of the great value and potential of IKS has certainly advanced in recent years.
As regards the ongoing progress of IKS, special attention was drawn to the need for improved research methodology and greater awareness of multidisciplinary approaches if the field is to develop further. Although the applied side of IKS in biocultural conservation and community development received substantial contributions from a variety of development workers and specialists, the political issues related to Traditional Resource Rights (TRRs) - including intellectual and material resource rights of indigenous peoples, and, in some persistent cases, the 'post-colonial' attitudes towards local peoples in science and society - received due attention within the context of the process of globalization. As a major outcome, a special international coordinating organization was established under the aegis of the group of Pacific participants in order to further regulate and strengthen indigenous peoples' position on TRRs, especially in relation to the ongoing processes of bioprospecting and biopiracy in the tropics. In addition to the useful programme booklet with ample information on sessions, working groups and 'abstracts' of delegates, a series of conference volumes will be published in due course. Further information can be obtained from the Internet: http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/traditionalknowledge.
Although not all interested representatives from developing countries could
afford to make the journey and stay the week in the rather touristic area of
Hawaii, Prof. MacCloskey and the organizing committee can look back to a very
successful conference that no doubt deserves a follow-up in the near future in
the form of 'Building Bridges III'.
(L. Jan Slikkerveer, LEAD, Leiden University)
Culture, Indigenous Knowledge and Learning Commission at the Eleventh
World Congress of comparative Education societies (WCCES)
Chungbuk, South Korea
2 - 6 July 2001
The Commission explores the place of local and/or indigenous knowledge and learning in a rapidly globalising world. It will take as its primary focus the tensions between the local and the global in the provision of learning opportunities at all levels of education, addressing such questions as: 'How can we enable learners to have a strong sense of their own local cultural identity and values, while at the same time preparing them to take their place with confidence in the modern, global world?'
Papers have been invited that explore any aspect of the tensions between the local and the global from an educational perspective. The organizers were especially interested in papers that provide case studies of attempts to achieve various forms of syncretism between local ways of knowing and learning and the increasingly powerful global approaches to knowledge and its dissemination. Some presenters, however, are considering other themes, such as what constitutes 'local' knowledge and learning; the role of local spiritual and ethical knowledge in the curriculum; ways in which education might help protect and develop the local cultural resources of minority groups; and the relationship between culture and learning in non-western societies. To give an insight in the titles of papers presented: 'Indigenous wisdoms and knowledges in higher education', 'New approaches to indigenous knowledge in a basic education curriculum: reflections from the Lao PDR', 'Cultural transformation of indigenous knowledge in Asian cram schools: challenges for Asian education in the 21 st century' and 'National identity, indigenous knowledge and the social science curriculum in Papua New Guinea'.
For more information, please contact:
Dr G.R. (Bob) Teasdale
Director, Flinders University, Institute of International Education
Associate Professor, School of Education, Flinders University
GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, Australia
Or visit the website of the Commission:
http://cc.knue.ac.kr/~kces/wcce.htm
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